Fifteen University of Bath graduates have accused University Technology Mara of intellectual property theft after discovering that their MBA thesis papers had been uploaded to its Institutional Repository (UiTM IR).

The fifteen students, from four groups of graduates of the 1994 Bath Executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA)-Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) programme, claimed that their thesis papers had been used without their consent.

The 58-year-old consultant, who completed his group thesis paper for his MBA 22 years ago, found that it was uploaded to UITM's IR.

"What was more puzzling was that our thesis had the UiTM logo and copyright mark on their paper.

"In the preview, you can see the UiTM logo clearly placed on the front of the project page, giving the impression that we had somehow collaborated on the thesis with UiTM or under its auspices," he said on Friday.